Apple’s plans for a gigantic foldable iPad make no sense

After years of sitting on the sidelines of the foldable device market, Apple is reportedly planning to finally launch a folding device of its own, according to multiple new reports.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, knowledgeable Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman claims the company’s “new vision for the future of computing” is a giant foldable iPad (or iPad-like device). He says that when unfolded, this product will offer a seamless single display the size of two iPad Pros side by side, but it will still fit into a rucksack when folded up.

Needless to say this represents a major departure from Apple’s current product portfolio, which contains no iPad with a display larger than 13 inches, and no folding-screen devices whatsoever. Gurman suggests the foldable’s maximum screen size will be closer to 20 inches, which would make it comfortably larger than even the biggest MacBook, which currently tops out at 16 inches.

Before readers rush out to recycle their frustratingly petite iPad Pros, we should stress that this remains a long-term goal rather than an imminent launch. Gurman says it has already been in development (or “honing,” as he puts it) for a couple of years and that Apple “is aiming to bring something to market around 2028.” And that’s assuming there aren’t further delays and headaches along the way. It’s still a long way off, with no guarantee it’ll arrive at all.

Part of the reason for Apple’s belated entry into the foldables market is the issue of the “crease.” Folding devices on the market right now are all to a greater or lesser extent afflicted with an identifiable crease at the point where the screen folds, yet Cupertino is clearly not willing to launch until it can fix it. Gurman understands that prototypes at Apple Park have been made with “nearly invisible” creases, but there remain doubts over the practicality of removing these altogether—as well as the appearance of a crease over time.

Aside from developmental hurdles, however, there are also doubts over whether or not a giant-sized foldable iPad would sell, particularly given the extremely high price tag it’s sure to carry. The 13-inch iPad Pro is already a niche, low-volume product within a relatively low-revenue section of Apple’s overall line-up, so one wonders how many consumers would be willing to pay multiple thousands of dollars for something twice the size, no matter how seamless its folding mechanism.

Quite aside from the price and folding element, which adds new points of failure and a much higher cost of entry, I’m not even convinced the idea of a giant iPad is a good or commercial idea. For one, there’s the issue of iPadOS, the product’s likely software platform. By 2028, iPadOS will likely have been further integrated into and evolved towards macOS, but the software’s designers will need to ensure it still makes sense on the simplest of budget iPads too. Unless Apple is ready to do another OS split and develop separate versions of iPadOS for different iPads, it’s hard to be optimistic about the iPad’s future as a work device.

Foldables are simply one of those markets that get a lot of media attention, so pundits constantly speculate about when (rather than whether) Apple should and will join in. But it might make more sense to begin with a foldable iPhone, a high-demand product where gaining extra screen space while maintaining a compact body feels more of a worthwhile aim. The Wall Street Journal [subscription required], indeed, believes such a product is under development alongside the folding iPad: it will unfold to a display size “that would be larger than an iPhone 16 Pro Max,” the paper reports.

Contrary to Gurman’s take on the situation, the WSJ thinks the foldable iPhone will arrive ahead of its larger sibling. “Apple executives,” it says, “are pushing for a 2026 release, but the company may need another year to address technical challenges.” I’d take this prediction too with a pinch of salt, but it seems more likely—and more sensible—than the giant folding iPad.